Caritas helps train border guards

Caritas yesterday held a training session for the Border Guard Bangladesh to help strengthen their capacity in securing the border more efficiently and to crack down on cross-border criminal activity.

Suklesh George Costa, a Caritas trainer, said the key to greater effectiveness was to form closer relationships among the communities near the border.

â€śBesides patrolling, BGB personnel need to involve more people in the process of securing the border and stopping crime,â€ť he said.

â€śThey should form national and local taskforces to counter trafficking and smuggling, and ensure disseminating information to people at risk and enhancing cross-border coordination.â€ť

More than 50 people, mostly BGB staff, along with a few government officials, attending the workshop.

Costa further noted the importance of involving civilians in the security process, most of whom were ignorant of trafficking laws.

â€śThe main reason is lack of coordination between related government agencies and NGOs. Most often, BGB personnel are poorly trained on various important issues or not trained at all,â€ť Costa said.

Costa added that Caritas has organized programs to enhance awareness of border issues since 2002, but recent strategies for improving security have come after a report from 2008 UNDP report that ranked Bangladesh as the country with the second-highest risk of human trafficking across its borders.

The BGB estimates that as many as 20,000 mostly women and children are smuggled out of Bangladesh every year.

â€śHuman trafficking is the second-largest [illegal] business, with yearly turnover of around US$7-$10 million,â€ť he said.

A BGB staffer identified only as Karim, 36, said the border guards face numerous obstacles to providing efficient security.

â€śWe have financial inability to follow up various government and non-government activities to curb border offences. It is also difficult for us to get legal issues solved.â€ť

Karim said a shortage of human resources was also a problem, with only one man per kilometer of border in his area.

â€śItâ€™s really a tough job to patrol the border 24 hours a day with such a limited force.â€ť

BGB Colonel Fazlul Huq said that crime along the border has increased sharply and led to rising tensions with neighbors.

â€śCrimes along the border not only hurt the economy but also cross-border relationships. We often organize flag meetings with border troops of neighboring countries [India and Myanmar] to coordinate border security.â€ť